Broad topic – Is inorganic farming really beneficial in agriculture?
Narrowest topic - Should we really adopt the use of inorganic farming practices to boost the agricultural production?
Should we really adopt the use of inorganic farming practices to boost the agricultural production?
The issue
The major differences between conventional and organic farming practices stem down to the farming methods that are applied during the food cultivation process. It is surprising enough that many individuals are yet unaware of the existing differences between the two farming methods. It is crucial to understand what goes on in agriculture because it has a direct effect on our environment. Inorganic farming also termed to a conventional type of agriculture entails the use of synthetic products in the cultivation of crops. This entails the use of pesticides, genetically modified products, chemicals as well as other continual inputs. Examples of these chemicals and pesticides that are used include herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides used to kill pests that cause destruction on our crops. The adoption of inorganic farming began in the nineteenth century. Later it became widespread after the end of World War 2. Before that organic farming was the preferred technique of agriculture that entailed the use of natural ways of farming without the use of synthetic chemicals, pesticides or the genetically modified products (Padmavathy & Poyyamoli, 2011). Organic farming is considered as the better farming method because it sustains the health of the people, the soil, and the ecosystem. However, although organic agriculture is better for our environment, it produces fewer agricultural products when compared to inorganic farming (Leifeld, 2012). With the rapid rise of the human population over the years, there is a need to increase the agricultural production. This can be best sustained through the adoption of inorganic farming as it produces higher products and it is more efficient. Nevertheless, the farming practice continues to cause more harm to the environment, therefore; it is important to explore the issue.
Viewpoint side
The human population is growing fast and everyday lesser land becomes available for crop production. This implies that at one point the food may become exhausted living man with nothing to feed. This food insecurity has pressured scientists to step in and develop new ways of producing large quantities of food using gene manipulation and synthetic products in an effort of maximizing the potential of the plants. As a result, food has been readily available at affordable prices over the recent years (Van Der Ploeg, 2010). Moreover, according to Hole et al., (2005), organic farming produces lower yields increasing the need to cultivate more agricultural foods under large pieces of land that are not available due to the increased of the human population. Advocates of organic farming have proposed that organic products are healthier that the inorganic products. As a result, a number of studies have been conducted assessing whether indeed inorganic products have different health effects but from the research results there isn’t much difference between the two food products.
Opposing viewpoint
Inorganic farming should not be adopted as the agricultural practice has adverse effects on the environment and our health. When these synthetic products such as chemicals used are tested, they have an ability to cause cancer, and almost half of them are carcinogenic. This discovery was made recently but before then, nobody bothered to worry about these inorganic chemicals as they were assumed to have no risk to our health. It is, therefore, important for farmers to become more careful when determining the inputs to use in farming. According to Patil, Reidsma, Shah, Purushothaman, & Wolf (2014), conventional farming has mounted environmental stress by causing, chemical leakage, loss of ecological biodiversity and water pollution when the synthetic products get into the water bodies causing eutrophication. The utilization of harmful chemicals for farming does not increase environmental sustainability, biodiversity or encourage good air and soil quality (Leifeld, 2012). Rather, farmers need to adopt organic farming practices that are beneficial to the environment such as minimum tillage practices to prevent soil erosion, water management practices, and biological pest control methods (Padmavathy & Poyyamoli, 2011). As stewards of our natural resources and environment, it is important to advocate for environmentally friendly policies and practices that will contribute to an enhanced ecosystem benefiting our health, biodiversity, water quality as well as the soil’s health.
Risks and benefits
One of the significant advantage associated with the adoption of inorganic farming is increased agricultural production. Today, it is possible to produce enough food even on small pieces of land with the use of lesser labor. With the rising prices of food commodities and the rapidly growing human population, this is the only way to produce enough food for consumption. However, the risks involved outweigh the benefit. Inorganic farming causes adverse effects on the health of the people, the soil, and the ecosystem. It causes water pollution when chemicals get in the water sources leading to the death of the aquatic animals; it causes hindrance to the normal soil microbial activity as well as the destruction of the soil structure. When the soil structure is destroyed disintegration occurs leading to soil erosion. As well, the synthetic chemicals used alter the normal soil PH and causes an accumulation of hazardous materials in the soil following abuse and overuse of these products (Padmavathy & Poyyamoli, 2011).
Position taken
Being the stewards of the environment and natural resources, it is important to protect our natural ecosystem. Therefore, as many of the harmful effects of inorganic farming are yet to be discovered, and because the associated risks are dangerous and irreversible, it is better to stick to what we have been practicing before the introduction of inorganic farming. It will be quite irresponsible to continue using chemicals and synthetic products when we know that their effects are lethal. To keep up with the rapidly rising human population, it is important only to integrate the safe, conventional farming practices into organic farming to increase agricultural production.
References
Hole, D. G., Perkins, A. J., Wilson, J. D., Alexander, I. H., Grice, P. V., & Evans, A. D. (2005). Does organic farming benefit biodiversity? Biological Conservation.
Leifeld, J. (2012). How sustainable is organic farming? Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 150, 121–122. doi:10.1016/j.agee.2012.01.020
Padmavathy, K., & Poyyamoli, G. (2011). Alternative Farming Techniques for Sustainable Food Production. Genetics, Biofuels and Local Farming System (Vol. 7).
Patil, S., Reidsma, P., Shah, P., Purushothaman, S., & Wolf, J. (2014). Comparing conventional and organic agriculture in Karnataka, India: Where and when can organic farming be sustainable? Land Use Policy, 37, 40–51. doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2012.01.006
Van Der Ploeg, J. D. (2010). Farming styles research: the state of the art. Historicising Farming Styles, 1–15.
